Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 89
Jīva–Ātman Inquiry; Kṣetrajña Doctrine; Karma-based Varṇa; Four Āśramas and Sannyāsa Discipline
तत्खलु द्विविधं सुखमुच्यचते शरीरं मानसं च । इह खल्वमुष्मिंश्च लोके वस्तुप्रवृत्तयः सुखार्थमभिधीयन्ते नहीतः परत्रापर्वगफलाद्विशिष्टतरमस्ति । स एव काम्यो गुणविशेषो धर्मार्थगुणारंभगस्तद्धेतुरस्योत्पत्तिः सुखप्रयोजनार्थमारंभाः । भरद्वाज उवाच । वदैतद्भवताभिहितं सुखानां परमा स्थितिरिति ॥ ८९ ॥
tatkhalu dvividhaṃ sukhamucyacate śarīraṃ mānasaṃ ca | iha khalvamuṣmiṃśca loke vastupravṛttayaḥ sukhārthamabhidhīyante nahītaḥ paratrāparvagaphalādviśiṣṭataramasti | sa eva kāmyo guṇaviśeṣo dharmārthaguṇāraṃbhagastaddheturasyotpattiḥ sukhaprayojanārthamāraṃbhāḥ | bharadvāja uvāca | vadaitadbhavatābhihitaṃ sukhānāṃ paramā sthitiriti || 89 ||
Happiness is indeed said to be of two kinds: bodily and mental. In this world and in the next, all undertakings are described as being for the sake of happiness; yet nothing is superior to the fruit of mokṣa, liberation. That alone is the desirable excellence of qualities—the beginning of the virtues of dharma and artha; from it arises its cause, and all efforts are undertaken with happiness as their aim. Bharadvāja said: “Explain, as you have stated, what the supreme state of happiness is.”
Bharadvaja (questioning; prior exposition is by the main teacher in the dialogue context)
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: jijnasa (none)
FAQs
It frames all human striving as oriented toward happiness, then elevates the discussion by declaring that no result surpasses apavarga (liberation), preparing the listener to seek the highest, non-worldly form of sukha.
While bhakti is not named here, the verse establishes moksha (apavarga) as the unsurpassed goal; in Narada Purana’s broader Moksha-dharma setting, devotion to Bhagavan is presented as a principal means to that highest happiness beyond bodily and mental pleasures.
No specific Vedanga technique is taught in this verse; it is primarily a moksha-dharma philosophical classification (bodily vs. mental happiness) and a goal-setting principle that guides dharmic practice and life-planning.